Door-check



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. GILPILLAN. DOOR CHECK.

No. 534,999. Patented Mar. 5, 1895.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Shee-t 2.

W. GILPILLAN.

DOOR CHECK. No. 534,999. Patented Mar 5, 1895.

lmmrr" (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

W. GILFILLAN.

DOOR GHEGK.

amnion 9 9 a; M J N w 4 NGTON. D. c.

( view of the piston and vent tube.

rrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM GILFILLAN, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT.

DOOR-CHECK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 534,999, dated March5,1895.

Application filed March 31, 1 8 92. Serial No. 427,257. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GILFILLAN, of New Britain, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Door- Checks; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates to an improvement in door checks, and consists inthe features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafterdescribed and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a View in side elevation of myimproved door check attached toa door. Fig. 2 is a vertical section ofthe device. Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the piston. Fig. at is-asimilar view of the rotary disk. Fig. 5 is a detached Fig. 6 is adetached view of the spring thimble. Fig. 7isa detached View of thespring arbor sleeve. Fig. 8 is a view of the door check when constructedwithout a spring casing or spring. Fig. 9 is an enlarged view incross-section of the vent tube and rotary plug valve. Fig. 10 is a planview of the piston showing an outline of the rotary disk. Fig. 11 is aview in side elevation of the stufflng box gland.

A represents a liquid chamber or receptacle which is shown cylindricalin form though it may be rectangular,polygonal or of any other desiredshape in cross section.

Head B is preferably cast integral with the chamber while the oppositehead Cis screwed into the open end of the chamber and hence is readilyremovable for the insertion of the piston. A filling hole a is formed inthe removable head through which the checking liquid may be inserted andwhich is retained against escape by the screw plug 0.

D is a spring casing, preferably cast integral with the liquid chamberthough it desired such parts may be made separate and suitably securedtogether. This chamber is provided with ears or flanges 0b a which areperforated as at a, for the reception of screws for fastening thechamber to the door or door-casing. The cap D of the spring casing, isconstructed with an upwardly projecting boss (1, which serves as abearing for the sleeve E which latter is supported by the ratchet wheelE cast on its upper end and resting upon the upper end of the boss.

F is a spindle which extends through the sleeve E, and its upper andsquared end f has secured thereto one end of the link which is composedof the sections 6 c pivotally connected together at a G is a springwhich is provided with a retaining band 9 to which is fastened a platewhich fits into a vertical slot formed in the spring casing whereby theouter end of the spring is removably secured to the spring casing. Ihave not deemed it necessary to illustrate in the drawings this methodof fastening the spring to the casing as it forms no part of thisinvention, and has already been disclosed in a patent granted to me ondoor checks. By this construction of parts the position of the springmay be readily reversed, thus rendering the door check adapted for useon right or left hand swinging doors.

The lower portion of sleeve E is flattened on its oppositesides for theengagement of similarly flattened sides g formed on the inside of thethimble 9 whereby the latter will be rotated with the sleeve. On theperiphery of the thimble is formed an inclined tooth g which engages inthe hole 9 formed in the inner end of the spring. When the sleeve andthimble are turned in one direction; that is, in a proper direction towind up the spring, the tooth on the thimble engages in the hole formedin the inner end of the spring, but should the sleeve be turned in theopposite direction, the tooth on the thimble will be disengaged from thespring whereby the latter will be protected against breakage or injury.The thimble is readily removed and is v reversible so that it may beapplied for use in connection with the spring arranged either for aright or left hand door check.

1-1 is a packing plate the periphery of which is screw threaded thelatter engaging corresponding screw threads h formed in the lower end ofthe spring casing, or in the upper por tion of the liquid chamber. Anannular seat or ledge h is formed in the casing and against this seatthe packing plate is firmly screwed. The lower end of spindle F isseated in a bearing h formed in the packing plate.

ICO

A stufling box I projects upwardly from the packing plate and ispreferably cast integral therewith. The outer surface of the stufing boxhas formed thereon a not It to allow of the application of a wrench toscrew the packing plate home and to unscrew it when necessary. The glandI is screw threaded at its lower end and engages corresponding screwthreads on the inner surface of the stuffing box. Holes t'any desirednumberare formed in the gland and extend through it. Within these holessuitable inbricating material t" is packed which serves to lubricate thelower end of the spindle.

J is a piston the end or head j of which snugly fits the bore of theliquid chamber. If desired the piston maybe provided withanysuitablepacking. Kisaraceway formed in an extension of the piston andis preferably cast solid with the shell K. Headj is constructed with ahole 7" over which is located a lift valve L, the latter havingconnected therewith any desired number of guide pins k which extendthrough holes 7r formed in the head of the piston. The guide pins fitloosely within holes 7c so that they may not only slide freely to andfro therein, but have a slight lateral movement and thus enable thevalve to adjust itself laterally for a purpose hereinafter explained.

M is a venting tube, which is screwed into the end or head B of theliquid chamber, so that the tube projects into the latter. The tube isgradually tapered from the point m to its inner end, while its outer endis constructed with a vent hole m and with an annular groove m thelatter being considerably wider than the thickness of the lift valve.The venting tube from the point m to the groove m is straight or withouttaper. \Vithin the venting tube is located a rotary plug valve 11, whichin form is such a section of a cylinder that it may be turned so as tocompletely close the hole m or may be adjusted so as to vary at will thesize of the liquid passage through the vent hole to theinterior of thetube. The outer end of the rotary plug valve is furnished with a buttonm by which it may be easily adjusted. As shown in the drawings, liftvalve L is provided with a hole Z through which extends the vent tube M.

N is a rotary disk secured to the lower end of spindle F, andconstructed to snugly fit and seat itself upon the annular seat n formedin the casing or chamber below the packing ring. Upon the under side ofthe rotary disk is formed an eccentric disk N which is provided with astud pin N It is evident that these several parts might be constructedseparately and be fastened together. Stud pin N enters the hole 0 formedin the racebox 0' the upper face of which is flush with and in the sameplane as the upper and hearing faces 0, 0' of the race way. The lowerface 19, of the eccentric disk is planed off, and is of such area thatit will at all times rest upon and engage the upper face or hearing ofthe race-box O and the bearing faces 0 0 of the race-way.

I will now briefly describe the operation of my improved door check.

When the parts are in the position illustratedin Fig. 5, the door isswung wide open and will be closed and its speed regulated andcontrolled by the action of the doorcheck. In swinging the door to itsopen position piston J is moved from left to right and the liquidcontained in the liquid chamber will flow through the holej in the headof piston and past the lift valve which latter will be forced into itsopen position due to the pressure of liquid against its inner face whenthe piston is moved in the direction stated. Hence by the act of openingthe door, the checking liquid is caused to flow through the hole in thehead of the piston and fill the space between the latter and the end ofthe liquid chamber. As the door commences to close the spring of thedoor check will act to move the door rapidly during a part of itsmovement in closing, such rapid movement being permitted by the check.It will be observed that when the door commences to close, the confinedliquid between the head of the piston and the closed end of the liquidchamber, will flow through the vent hole and venting tube to theopposite side of the piston, and will also flow through the annularpassage formed between the tapered end of the venting tube and the wallsof the hole in the lift valve and through which the venting tubeextends. This annular passage will gradually be restricted in area asthe piston moves toward the right, and will be practically closed whenthe piston has moved such a distance that the valve covers the point mon the venting tube. During the movement of the piston from this point,until the valve L has reached the annular groove m the escape of theliquid will be practically restricted to its passage through the venthole m and hence the speed of the door will be gradually checked untilit has swung almost closed; but just before the door has reached itsclosed position and when its speed has been reduced to its minimum, thevalve L will pass over the annular groove m and as the latter is ofgreater width than the thickness of the valve, the liquid which is stillconfined between the piston and end of the chamber, will freely escapethrough the annular groove and past the valve and flow to the oppositeside of the head of the piston. This sudden release of the checkingmedium, allows the spring of the door check to exert its force inclosing the door with sufficient force to insure its latching.

The speed of the door in closing may be regulated, by varying theadjustment of the rotary plug valve and thereby varying the size of thevent hole m. The sudden release of the checking fluid and allowing thespring to close and latch the door, may be regulated so that the doorwill be released to the action of the spring at any desired point in itsmovement. This may be done by varying the adjustment of the vent tube,that is to say, by screwing the vent tube farther into the chamber, therelease of the door to the action of the spring will take place earlierthan when the vent tube is adjusted so that valve L will not reach theannular groove until the door has swung into an almost closed position.

The vent tube throughout a portion of its length fits quite snuglywithin the central hole in the lift valve, and hence in order to preventthe latter from binding or injuring the vent tube, its guide pins arefitted within the piston head so that they will slide freely, but willalso have a slight lateral movement in their holes and thus permit thelift valve to have sufficient lateral movement to accommodate itself tothe vent tube.

The rotary disk on the lower end of the spindle gives the lower end ofthe latter a broad and extended lateral bearing and thereby restrains itagainst lateral motion and wear, while the extended flat bearing surfaceon the under side of the eccentric disk operates to maintain therace-box in position and insures a perfectly smooth working of thedevice.

In Fig.8 I have represented the check when constructed without a spring,in which case the packing disk constitutes a portion of the wall of theliquid chamber. Door checks thus constructed are exceedingly simple intheir construction and may be used in connection with a separate andindependent door spring of any desired form and construction.

I do not restrict my invention to the particular construction andarrangement of parts shown and described, but,

Having fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A door check comprising a liquid chamber, a reciprocating piston, avalved port in the piston, a vent tube extending through the piston andprovided with a tapering surface whereby the piston is gradually checkedas the door commences to close, and an adj ustable valve for regulatingthe flow of liquid through the vent tube.

2. A door check comprising a liquid cliam ber, a piston adapted tooperate therein and a vent tube extending through the piston said venttube being provided with a port and a cut away portion adjacent to theport whereby the door when nearly closed will be suddenly released tothe action of the spring and its latching thereby insured.

3. A door check comprising a liquid chamber a reciprocating pistonadapted to operate therein a valved port in the piston, a vent tubeconnected with the liquid chamber and extending through the piston saidvent tube being provided with a port and a cut away portion, and anadjustable valve for regulating the flow of liquid through the venttube.

4. A door check comprising a liquid chamber, a reciprocating piston anda vent-tube tapcred throughout a portion of its length, substantially asset forth.

5. A door check comprising aliquid chamber, a reciprocating piston and avent tube provided with an adjustable rotary plug valve, substantiallyas set forth.

6. A door check comprising a liquid chamber, a reciprocating piston, anda vent tube provided with an annular groove, substantially as set forth.

7. A door check comprising aliquid chamber, a reciprocating pistonconstructed with a race way, a spindle, eccentric disk and stud pin anda race box, substantially as set forth.

8. A door check comprisinga liquid cham ber, a reciprocating pistonconstructed with a race-way, a race box arranged in the raceway, and aneccentric disk provided with a stud pin which engages the race-box, theeccentric disk being provided with an extended bearing that engages therace box and raceway, substantially as set forth.

9. A door check comprising a liquid chamber, a reciprocating pistonhaving a race-way and race-box, a spindle arranged at right angles tothe line of movement of the piston; a rotary disk, an eccentric disk andstud pin connected with the lower end of the spindle, substantially asset forth.

10. A door check comprising aliquid chamber, a reciprocating piston, aspindle arranged at right angles to the line of movement of the pistonand a packing disk having a stuffing gland constructed with holesadapted to be filled with lubricating material for lubricating the lowerend of the spindle, substantially as set forth.

11. A door check comprisingaliquid chamber and a reciprocating piston,aspring cham ber and spindle the latter being arranged at right anglesto the line of movement of the piston and connected therewith, of valvemechanism for allowing the liquid to escape past the piston when thedoor is opened, and for gradually checking the escape of liquid throughthe piston as the door is closed, and for suddenly releasing the door tothe action of the spring when the door is nearly closed and thus insureits latching, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM GILFILLAN.

Witnesses:

GEO. F. DOWNING, S. G. NOTTINGHAM.

